February 27, 2025

Each year, the Dornsife Awards honor the outstanding contributions of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members to the Dornsife School of Public Health (DSPH) at Drexel University.

On February 26, 2025, the DSPH community gathered on campus for a vibrant ceremony and reception, celebrating the achievements of the award recipients. 

Palak Raval-Nelson, PhD '08, MPH '02, Health Commissioner, City of Philadelphia's Department of Public Health, who won this year's Distinguished Alumni Award shared remarks that reflected on her time at the school with her peers:

"We were working professionals by day doing public health learning at night. The coursework, the professors, the classmates, and the school stood in its conviction for learning, passion for public health, and most important of all, it's commitment to health and human rights which is my life's purpose."

Additionally, new Delta Omega inductees were recognized.

View photo album

Below are the award descriptions and the winners:

Junior Faculty Research Award

The award recognizes a junior faculty member at the Assistant Professor rank (in any track) with a primary appointment in the Dornsife School of Public Health (DSPH), in recognition of scholarly activity in the field of public health. Criteria for candidates who excel in research include one or more of the following:

• Publications/chapters/reports
• Internal/external funding
• Major conference presentations
• Service as reviewer, e.g., journal, conference abstracts
• Media coverage of research

Winners: Alina Schnake-Mahl, ScD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Health Management and Policy Dept., and Josiah Kephart, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Dept.

Golden Apple Faculty Teaching Award

This award recognizes faculty for excellence in teaching. All faculty are eligible. Innovation and a commitment to pedagogical excellence are the primary criteria by which the candidates will be judged. A candidate who excels in teaching:

• Guides and inspires students, and stimulates intellectual interest and enthusiasm
• Displays a spirit of scholarly inquiry, which leads to developing and strengthening course content in light of developments in the field
• Improves methods of presenting material, including creative use of technology

Winner: Javier Lopez-Rios, PhD, MPH, Assistant Teaching Professor, Community Health and Prevention Dept.

Honorable mention: Jessie Kemmick Pintor, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Health Management and Policy Dept.

Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award

The Outstanding Teaching Award is presented to a DSPH student who served as a teaching assistant and who exhibited a strong commitment to student learning. A successful candidate for this award should have:

• Served as a teaching assistant in a DSPH course in the past 12 months
• Demonstrated reflective teaching practices, creative and innovative teaching methods, and academic support to their students
• Shown leadership and a commitment to their own professional growth and development as an educator

Winner: Bharath Gowda Govindiah Chandra Mohan, Graduate Student

Outstanding Promise Student Awards

This award recognizes students who have exhibited great promise for regional or national societal impact, and accordingly, for enhancing Drexel’s reputation, now and in the future. This award is open to doctoral students, master’s students, and undergraduate students. A candidate who demonstrates outstanding promise has:

• Demonstrated originality, creativity, and significance of work
• Shown evidence of or potential for regional, national, or societal impact and enhancing Drexel’s reputation, now and in the future
• Demonstrated leadership and commitment to civic responsibility

Winners: Kati Hinman, MS, Doctoral Student, Ripon Hosain, ASP, Master's Student, and Madeline Plummer, Undergraduate Student

Staff Excellence Award

This award recognizes a professional staff member who has demonstrated dedication and commitment to the school through innovation or making significant contributions. A candidate who excels in service has:

• Demonstrated creativity or resourcefulness in accomplishing major assignments
• Possessed outstanding administrative or technical ability
• Exercised leadership and initiative above and beyond what is required of their role
• Exhibited qualities such as dependability, patience, collaboration, and a positive attitude toward their job and colleagues

Winners: Madeline Rockett, Research Assistant, Community Health & Prevention Dept., and Natalie Shaak, Associate Director of Communication and Administration, Center for Hunger-Free Communities

Public Health Practice Award for Community Preceptors

This award recognizes 2024-2025 DSPH community preceptors who have shown commitment to the school and the advancement of public health practice through the hosting of student practical experiences (practicum and CBMP), teaching and mentoring of students, overall partnership with DSPH to improve the health status of our communities.

The Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) has defined public health practice as “the strategic, organized, and interdisciplinary application of knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary to perform essential public health services and other activities to improve the population’s health.”

Distinct from service, public health practice is the application of public health scholarship, knowledge and skills to practice settings through collaboration with government entities, policy makers, community and advocacy organizations, non-governmental organizations, and health care delivery systems.

Winner: Meg Finley, Director of Data and Evaluation of Lutheran Settlement House, a nonprofit, community-based organization committed to serving children, adults, and families living in Philadelphia

New Preceptor Award

This year's New Preceptor Award recognizes a new public health preceptor who has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to mentoring our students during their applied practical experiences and/or integrative learning experiences.

Winners: Flora Ward, Grants Manager, and Sibylla Shekerdjiska-Benatova, Founder and Executive Director, of A Book A Day, a nonprofit organization based in West Philadelphia that engages the arts to expand literacy and promote interdisciplinary and life-long learning among children in underserved and diverse communities

Distinguished Alumni Award

This award recognizes a Drexel Dornsife alumnus who has completed a DSPH educational program and received an academic degree by the Dornsife School of Public Health and has made significant contributions throughout their career in any of the following categories: leadership, practice, teaching, research, community, or to DSPH. A successful candidate has attained recognition and respect for their accomplishments, and demonstrated strong interest and commitment to the mission, vision and values of DSPH.

Winner: Palak Raval-Nelson, PhD '08, MPH '02, Health Commissioner, City of Philadelphia's Department of Public Health

Recent Alumni Award

This award recognizes an alumnus who has completed a DSPH educational program and received an academic degree in the past five years who has achieved important and promising accomplishments and has exceptional promise for future success. A successful candidate demonstrates a strong interest and commitment to the mission, vision and values of DSPH.

Winner: Erin Nipps, MPH '24, Program Analyst, City of Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Award

This award recognizes a DSPH team of faculty, staff and students who exemplify the school’s values of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. They strive to build and nurture an institutional culture where inclusiveness is a core value and where difference is respected. They collectively foster our vision of health as a human right and advance our goals of eliminating health disparities and improving health in cities.

Winners: Stephanie Hernandez, PhD, MS, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Dept.; Jourdyn Lawrence, PhD, MSPH, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Dept.; and Agus Surachman, PhD, MS, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Dept.

Delta Omega

The student membership in the Delta Omega National Honor Society is awarded to students who reflect a commitment to excellence in academics and the applications of synthesis of public health principles as well as to the protection and improvement of population and community health. The DSPH Delta Omega Beta Omega Chapter Alumni Nomination Committee reviews all nominations and selects students in the top quartile of GPA with an outstanding record of service to the community. To be eligible for membership, candidates must:

• Be an undergraduate (BS) or graduate (MPH, MS, PhD, DrPH) student in the Dornsife School of Public Health in good academic standing
• Attend two (2) Beta Omega Chapter approved service activities each year. (Attending non-Beta Omega service activities will also meet this requirement. Service includes volunteer opportunities in the public health industry as well as to the community in which you live and/or work)
• Have a record of outstanding academic achievement

New Members:

• Edmond Appiah
• Paola Arevalo Rodriguez
• Divya Chanda
• Jessica Lim
• Rose Litvak
• Chizoba Okorie
• Marie Owino
• Nishka Patel
• Nicole Pittman
• Tara Polackal

Congratulations to the recipients and thanks to the organizers of the event in the DSPH Office of Education!